By Nicholas Mwangi* NAIROBI, Kenya | 22 December 2024 (IDN) — Ghana’s Electoral Commission declared on December 9 that former President and opposition leader John Dramani Mahama was the winner in the presidential election held on December 7, securing 56.55% of the vote, according to provisional results. The election marked a political comeback for the […]
Africa: Economic Potential of BRICS Partner States — Algeria, Nigeria and Uganda
By Professor Maurice Okoli and Professor Chinedu Ochinanwata* ABUJA, Nigeria | 21 December 2024 (IDN) — After the historic 16th BRICS summit held in October 2024, three African States Algeria, Nigeria and Uganda, among others in Europe (Belarus and Turkey), Asia and Latin America, recognizably became BRICS+ partner states. In total, thirteen countries received BRICS […]
Will Malaysia Help Resuscitate ASEAN in 2025?
By Simone Galimberti* KATHMANDU, Nepal | 20 December 2024 (IDN) — What should we expect from the Malaysia’s Chairmanship of ASEAN in 2025? After several years of hibernation in which the regional bloc did not certainly sparkle in terms of vitality and creativity, will Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim of Malaysia be able to resuscitate an […]
Interview: Developments in Syria Can Give Opportunity to ISIS to Bounce Back
By Manish Rai ERBIL, Iraq | 17 December 2024 (IDN) — Mr Shoresh Ismail Abdulla is the Minister of Peshmerga affairs in the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG). The Peshmerga are the military forces of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and one of the most capable forces in the region, which pushed back ISIS from its […]
Syria: A Non-Interventionist Approach Is Extremely Dangerous
By Alon Ben-Meir* NEW YORK 17 December 2024 (IDN) — Given its geostrategic interest and the security of its allies in the Middle East, the US has no choice but to intervene constructively in Syria by extending a helping hand to the new regime to stabilize the country. The question is, will Trump change his […]
Was South Korea’s Coup an Attempt to Restart the Korean War?
By Ju-Hyun Park* SEOUL | 16 December 2024 (IDN) — As South Korea’s political crisis continues following President Yoon’s failed attempt to declare martial law on December 3, new details are emerging in the country’s legislature that suggest the full scope of Yoon’s coup plot may have included plans to trigger a “limited war” with […]
Asia-Pacific: Leaving No one Behind Amid Climate Change
By Selahattin Selsah Pasali* BANGKOK, Thailand | 14 December 2024 (IDN) — Over four in five people in Asia and the Pacific face multi-hazard risks associated with slow or sudden onset climate events. However, the degree of exposure is by no means uniform across individuals and households and diversity prevails in vulnerability to and capacity […]
The First Element of a North Korean Nuclear Proliferation Network
By Robert Kelley* VIENNA | 13 December 2024 (IDN) — On the night of 6 September 2007 Israeli jets bombed a building in Northen Syria. The building was alleged to be a nuclear reactor under construction to support a nuclear weapons program. The reactor was reported to be a copy of the small plutonium production […]
Why Ghana’s Election Matters Across Africa
By Azu Ishiekwene The writer is Editor-In-Chief of LEADERSHIP and author of the new book Writing for Media and Monetising It. ABUJA, Nigeria | 12 December 2024 (IDN) — The news from Ghana was not how John Dramani Mahama’s opposition party, the National Democratic Congress (NDC), defeated Nana Akufo-Addo’s ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP). The […]
Syria: They Made a Desert, And Called It Peace
By Jeffrey D. Sachs* This article was published in Common Dreams and is being republished with the author’s permission. NEW YORK | 12 December 2024 (IDN) — In the famous lines of Tacitus, Roman historian, “To ravage, to slaughter, to usurp under false titles, they call empire; and where they make a desert, they call […]